Lyrick Studios
Lyrick Studios was an American video production and distribution company based in Allen, a Dallas suburb. The company was best known for its distribution of home videos, audio products, children's books and toys for the children's television series Barney & Friends and for the TV series Wishbone. This company was also known for its production and distribution of home videos, audio products, children's books, toys, video games, 2D and CGI animation, visual effects, feature-length motion pictures, and television shows. History The company traces its origins to 1988, when The Lyons Group was formed as a division of DLM, Inc (Developmental Learning Materials), an educational company owned by Richard C. Leach. Lyons began producing and distributing a direct-to-video series titled Barney and the Backyard Gang, which was created by Sheryl Leach, the daughter-in-law of Richard. Three years after the home video series debuted, Barney caught the attention of PBS executives and the concept was subsequently revamped for television. Barney & Friends began airing on the Public Broadcasting Service on April 6, 1992, at which point the Lyons Group separated from DLM and became its own company. Lyrick Studios was formed in 1994, and the Lyons Group became a division of the new company under the name Lyons Partnership. Dick Leach, creator of Barney, became the company's CEO in 1997. The company developed the Wishbone series for PBS in 1995, a show about a talking dog living in the fictional town of Oakdale, Texas. This series was produced by Big Feats! Entertainment, another Lyrick division. The series was filmed at the studio and on location in Plano. By the late 1990s, Lyrick Studios turned its primary focus on distribution of children's TV shows and films. Lyrick acquired the distribution rights for VeggieTales, and The Wiggles and also distributed book publishing and video gaming rights for some Humongous Entertainment video game characters like Putt-Putt, Freddi Fish and Pajama Sam. In 2001, Lyrick began distributing TV shows owned by entertainment company HiT Entertainment such as Bob the Builder (on May 22, 2001), and Kipper (on June 5, 2001). On February 9, 2001, the company was acquired by HIT for a $275-million deal, and Dick Leach died during the sale process. Though HiT purchased the company on February 9, 2001, most of its' VHS tapes still used the Lyrick logo with the HiT logo until August 31st when it was folded into the company. Projects * Barney & Friends (1992-2001) * VeggieTales (1993–2001) * Wishbone (1997–2001) * Barney's Great Adventure: The Movie (PolyGram Release 1998) * Kids for Character (1996) * Kids for Character: Choices Count! (1997) * Groundling Marsh (US distribution) (1997–1999) * Joe Scruggs (1997) * Shelley Duvall's American Tall Tales and Legends (1998) * Shelley Duvall's Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme (1998) * The Wiggles (US distribution) (1999–2001) * 3-2-1 Penguins! (2000–2001) * Bob the Builder (US distribution) (2001) * Kipper (US distribution) (2001) * Angelina Ballerina (US distribution) (2001) Gallery File:Lyrick-studios-75100075.jpg|Early logo, as seen on "Kids For Character" VHS boxes. Lyrick studios branding logo recreation by c e studio-db5cge8.png|Print Logo, (1996-2001) Lyrick studios 1996 7 still logo recreation 2nd by c e studio-db82ti8.png|Early intro, used in "Barney's Colors and Shapes" and "Barney's Musical Scrapbook". It's also used in Joe Scruggs. IMG 2157.jpg|First intro, from 1997-1998, used in Barney's Adventure Bus, Barney's Good Day, Good Night, It's Time For Counting and Down On Barney's Farm. It's also used in Kids For Character: Choices Count! IMG 2156.jpg|Second intro, with the Distributed by logo in white. It's used in VeggieTales: Where's God When I'm S-Scared?, VeggieTales: Are You My Neighbor?, Barney in Outer Space and Wishbone, as well as the beginning of Barney's Good Day, Good Night and the screening copy of It's Time For Counting. Vlcsnap-2016-07-13-19h10m31s115.png F7c9514f5bd4ec2121c8cf49bdc5bab6.png|Movie logo, as used in "Barney's Great Adventure: The Movie". Vlcsnap-2016-07-13-19h30m30s031.png|A widescreen matted version used in "Barney's Great Adventure: The Movie". Lyrick_1998.png|Third intro, from 1998-2001. Taken from Barney. The Distributed by logo in black before the logo is in Groundling Marsh, Shelley Duvall, VeggieTales, Wishbone and the first 2 videos from The Wiggles in 1999. DistributedByLyrickStudiosLogo.png|Fourth intro, with the "Distributed by" title card on top. Taken from VeggieTales, Bob the Builder, Kipper, Angelina Ballerina and The Wiggles. On most VeggieTales releases with this logo, it shows a still version. Trivia *Barney's Great Adventure's original release and re-Releases on DVD and VHS had been the only times that this logo is still not plastered by a HIT Entertainment logo. It remained that way eversince. Category:Video companies Category:Production Companies Category:Companies